Reviews for Lewis & Clark The Journey of the Corps of Discovery An Illustrated History

The average rating for Lewis & Clark The Journey of the Corps of Discovery An Illustrated History based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-01-23 00:00:00 Albert Baur Excellent companion to the PBS documentary. Of course, it has more details. I particularly enjoyed the followup about Patrick Gass: When Sergeant Patrick Gass was 60, he married 20-year-old Marie Hamilton, and they had six children. He was 90 when he volunteed to fight in the Civil War. And he was almost 99 when he died in West Virginia, the last surviving member of the Corps of Discovery. and the sentimental comment by Stephen Ambrose on the subject of friendship: Friendship is different from all other human relationships. Unlike acquaintanceship, it is based on love. Unlike that between lovers and married couples, it is free of jealousy. Unlike that between children and parents, it know neither criticism nor resentment. Friendship has no status in law. Business partnerships are based on a contract. So, is marriage. Parents are bound by the law, as are children. But friendship is freely entered into, freely given, freely excercised. Friends never cheat each other, or take advantage. Friends glory in each other's successes and are downcast by the failures. Friends minister to each other. Friends give to each other, worry about each other, stand always ready to help. Friends will go hungry for each other, freeze for each other, die for each other. It is rarely achived, but at its height, friendship is an ecstasy. For Lewis and Clark, it was an exstasy, and the critical factor in their great success.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-05-19 00:00:00 Noah Fox The "accompanying" book for Ken Burns' PBS documentary on Lewis and Clark. Two men who with their band of explorers accelerated the progress of the United States westward in an expansion that changed the face of the continent. The immensity of land that Clark thought "would take 100 generations" to colonize was mapped, populated, and farmed within 5. The tale is fascinating, and most of us know bits and pieces from our introduction to them as schoolchildren, but reading the whole story as an adult, do you begin to appreciate the enormity or their task, and the amount of grit, luck, and destiny that they possessed. It does read a little like a text book; but aptly carries you through the chronology of Lewis and Clark's journey, from birth of the idea to the journey itself and the aftermath of the explorers and their respective fates. The large swath of land that Thomas Jefferson purchased needed exploration, and this book is a fascinating way to experience it, utilizing the journals of the men, stories of those that they had met along the way, and other historical records to recreate the trek. It is filled with wonderful paintings from early artists who travelled in the few decades after their journey, and pictures of the objects used, photocopies of their journal entries (with original illustrations), and old photographs of peoples from their respective native American tribes. It is a fascinating story that every American, nay every person, should be familiar with; filled with the thrill of discovery, the challenge of man versus nature, and the legacy of consequence for the peoples (native American) affected.